The Rise of Wolf 8. Rick McIntyre
Читать онлайн книгу.
17.The Character of a Wolf
19.Family Life with the Druids
22.Moving On to the Rendezvous Site
24.The Druid Yearling Comes into His Own
25.My First Yellowstone Winter
27.The Battle of Specimen Ridge
Afterword by Douglas W. Smith
References and Suggested Resources
PRINCIPAL WOLVES
THESE FAMILY TREES cover the numbered wolves in the packs that feature most prominently in this book: Crystal Creek, Rose Creek, and Druid Peak. Numbers in triangles indicate male wolves and numbers in circles indicate female wolves.
Crystal Creek Pack
The alpha pair, alpha male 4 and alpha female 5, arrived in Yellowstone in January 1994, along with their four male pups. The family was from Alberta.
Rose Creek Pack
A mother and daughter, 9 and 7, arrived in Yellowstone in January 1995, and were introduced to lone male wolf 10. The three wolves were all from Alberta. 9 and 10 formed a pair bond, and 7 dispersed to become the alpha female of the first new pack to be formed in Yellowstone: the Leopold pack. Wolf 2 from the Crystal Creek pack joined her to become the Leopold pack’s first alpha male.
In addition to the five pups identified by number in the family tree above, the litter of 1995 included three more male pups.
Druid Peak Pack
A mother, 39, and her three daughters, 40, 41, and 42, arrived in Yellowstone in January 1996 and were introduced to lone male wolf 38. All five wolves were from British Columbia. Later that year, the five Druids were joined by a young male, wolf 31, who is thought to have come from the same pack in British Columbia as their alpha male, 38. Although 38 and 39 were the alpha pair, they did not produce any pups together. Wolf 38 did produce pups with two of 39’s daughters, 41 and 42.
Wolf 163 was born into this pack in 1998. His mother was likely 40. To find out who his father was, you will need to read on.
FOREWORD
AMERICA’S WILDNESS HAS always fed our souls and inspired our dreams. For many, wolves are the undisputed icons of nature, independence, and freedom. For others, wolves are considered a threat to livestock, their families, and their future.
Writer and biologist Rick McIntyre has a compelling story to tell. It begins in 1926, when park rangers shot the last of these apex predators in Yellowstone. Few people at the time mourned the loss.
Yet as wolves continued a sharp decline throughout the US (eventually landing them on the threatened and endangered species list), a movement took hold, and thirty-one wolves were eventually reintroduced back into the park in the mid-1990s. Decades later this bold wildlife restoration is considered the most successful ever undertaken.
McIntyre picks up the tale from there, sharing his journey of passion and dedication, adventure and perseverance, as he observed these packs returning to their native lands. He has spent those years hiking into the backcountry, filling thousands of pages with meticulous notes, and setting up roadside scopes for travelers from all over the world who have come to see and learn more about these creatures.
In particular wolf 8, one of the very first to roam free, captures his attention and his heart, and grows into the main character in this narrative.
Through McIntyre’s eyes, we witness and learn about wolves as unique individuals living with breathtaking intensity—and it’s impossible not to be awed by their loyalties to each other, keen intelligence, and will to survive.
Given this intimate portrait, and the controversy that continues to surround wolves, we’re left to wonder how to balance their important role in the ecosystem with the interests of people whose lives they cross when they step beyond the protection of the park.
There are no easy answers, but I believe also that there is no limit to human ingenuity if we are truly seeking solutions. Information and data are vital, but so are stories that help us empathize with wolves. Both can inspire and inform decisions for the future. This terrific book presents them side by side and gives us the chance to decide for ourselves . . . itself a sacred act of American freedom.
ROBERT REDFORD
Sundance, Utah
PROLOGUE
THE STORY TOLD in this book is an epic one, filled with heroes and heroines who struggle to survive and defend their families. A story that includes all the elements of a great tale: warfare, betrayal, murder, bravery, compassion, empathy, loyalty—and an unexpected hero. It is a story that deserves to be told by a literary genius such as Shakespeare, Homer, or Dickens. None of those writers was available.
If Shakespeare had written a play about these characters and their lives, he might have invented a prologue set at a wolf den, deep within a forest. The scene might have looked something like this. Three male pups, all jet black, run out of the den and begin